India's Oct 1-Feb 15 sugar output rises about 8 pc

MUMBAI: Indian sugar mills produced 21.9 million tonnes of the sweetener between Oct. 1 and Feb. 15, nearly 8 percent more than a year earlier, as a few mills started crushing earlier than usual, a producers' body said on Wednesday.

Mills in the western state of Maharashtra produced 8.3 million tonnes sugar during the period, up 11 percent from a year ago, the Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA) said in a statement.

The world's biggest sugar consumer is likely to produce 30.7 million tonnes of sugar in the current year ending on Sept. 30, down from 32.5 million tonnes in 2017/2018, due to lower cane yields and diversion of cane for ethanol production, ISMA said.